History
1976
Because honey is good but back then so rare
That is why Juha Nuutero decided to get his own bee hive at the age of 14. Year was 1976 and Juha who was interested in nature and plants in generally talked his parents into investing his new hobby. This is how everything got started and new experiences were received. Back then the bees were quite “angry” when disturbed and didn’t want to give up the honey easily. Half a bucket was the harvest of the first years and no need for honey packing, honey was consumed straight from the bucket.
Beekeeping stayed as a hobby through the college years. There were no premises for the beekeeping operations. Honey extracting and equipment storing was in the hands of the frinds and family, compensated with honey of coures.
Juha, gratuated as horticulturist decided to acquire premises of his own, where he could do the beekeeping as living and and at the same time settle down. Earnings were low so there was no other option than to go to bank and get a loan for the house. At the bank, banker checked the calculations of the honey productions and said “I think that your bees have never before produced what you have calculated”, so the loan wasn’t granted. Fortunately giving up has not ever been included in Juha’s vocabulary, so finally the right bank was found.
As the banker had said, it’s hard to estimate how much bees will produce, so Juha decided to expand his number of hives. As a result Juha didn’t have time to go to “proper” work and beekeeping became his primary source of income.
1991
Beekeepers of the year 1991
Finnish beekeeping association nominated Katariina and Juha Nuutero as beekeepers of the year. Already back then they were significant queen rearing company in Finland’s scale. When the beekeeping became the main business there was need for investing to proper premises and honey extracting equipment. That ment more credit and increasing the production.
1998
Old premiese started to be to small for the groving business so the new land for the premises were acquired from Vesilahti. Beekeeping operations were moved to new premises and honey extraction became in a new extraction room. Juha and Katariina Nuutero moved next to production facilities and they were nominated as entrepreneurs of the year.
2002
Varroa mite had been in Finland for some time now and new methods against it were needed. From friend’s (Kaspar Ruoff) advice they fought against bureaucracy and got permits for thymol treatment “pillows” manufacturing and sales.Thymol is a phenolic monoterpene extracted from garden thyme and it doesn’t leave any leftovers to honey. Since the it has become popular method against varroa treatment due to its acceptance in organic honey production.
2013
Patented Slit Uncapper achieved second place in Apimondia (Kiev) in most innovative products serie.
The first honey product line
Mesimestari was the first honey packer in Finland to create a product line based on honey. We were able to package soft honey and harder, crystallizing honey separately. We managed to make the soft honey so smooth that it could also be packaged in squeeze bottles. The company was named Mesimestari Tmi after the product line. Honey marketing began nationwide, and Mesimestari honey spread throughout Finland via Prisma and S-stores.
Later, Mesimestari Tmi. split into Mesimestari Oy and Hunajatila Nuutero. Both companies are owned and managed by Juha and Katariina Nuutero. Hunajatila had approximately 1,000 beehives in production, and they pollinated flowers in southern Pirkanmaa.
Mesimestari Oy today
Our network of suppliers includes hundreds of beekeepers whose high-quality Finnish honey finds its way to consumers’ dining tables, packaged by Mesimestari. We work directly with central distribution centers, and this centralized approach enables small-scale producers’ honey to reach store shelves efficiently and in an environmentally friendly manner, transported alongside other shipments.
Honey Paw lightweight hives and machines are available in several countries where beekeeping is practiced. The product family has expanded to include even the beehive lines used in professional beekeeping. With the growth of the beekeeping supply business, Mesimestari decided to divest its apiaries in the spring of 2019, but the management of these same apiaries is now continued by our skilled contract producers.